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The Challenge |
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Government and policy-makers increasingly
recognize that actions to limit climate change should support the broader
aims of sustainable development, including the alleviation of poverty. In many developing countries today, however, a number of more immediate issues overshadow climate change: poverty, food security, health, natural resource management, energy access, and urban transport. At the same time, there are many good examples of development initiatives that also produce positive climate outcomes – often without any consideration for climate change. In China, for example, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 15% from 1996-2000 (when the economy grew 35%) was accomplished using price reform, environmental improvements and energy sector restructuring. These measures were undertaken for their economic and environmental benefits and without explicitly considering the implications for climate change mitigation or adaptation. The Chinese example illustrates the potential for policies and actions to simultaneously drive development and address climate change. However, research on the links between sustainable development and climate change is only just emerging and mostly conceptional. Expanding this research as a basis for developing policies and actions that strengthen the relationships between development and climate change is the rationale for the Development and Climate Project.
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